Prohibition on the Boardwalk
by FrancieAusten
Summary: The classic Fairy Tale Rumplestiltskin set during 1930's Atlantic City. Can the fair maiden change water into ale?


3

In the year 1933, a poor man lived in Atlantic City during a time of prohibition. He barely had enough money to put bread on the table for him and his daughter. She was the most beautiful in his eyes.

One day, he walked in a bar, which was illegal at the time, for alcohol had been banned. He had a vice, for he really liked to drink alcohol and put all his money on it instead of food. After a few glasses, he met the young owner of the bar. As he drank, he started bragging about the beauty and skill of his daughter. "She is so good she can brew ale out of mere water", he said.

"This is a skill I may be interested in. I want to put her to the test. If she brings me ten gallons of beer by tomorrow morning, then, I shall be convinced", answered the young man. The girl was brought to him and put in a room with only ten gallons of water.

But she had not the smallest idea how to brew beer, let alone brew beer out of water. So she sat there and cried. Then, an ugly man entered the room. She recognized him as Al Brutto, the most famous Mafioso in the country. "Why are you crying?", he asked her.

She answered : "I have been asked to brew beer out of water, but it is impossible."

"I might be able to help you with that. But what do you have to give me in exchange?"

"My necklace", she said, as she took off her necklace. The man left unseen and came back with a barrel of beer. He took away the water and left the girl alone in the room.

When the bar owner came back, he saw the ale and told the young woman : "I'm sure you cheated somehow". So, the next day, he brought her even more water, and asked her to turn it into beer again. She couldn't do it, so as soon as he had his back turned, she sat and cried again.

The door opened and the ugly Mafioso from the night before came in : "I can help you again, if only you have something to give me in exchange."

"My ring", she said, as she took off the ring from her finger. The man brought her a barrel of beer and left with the barrel of water.

The young owner was delighted to see so much ale, but he wasn't quite convinced yet. So he filled the room with barrels of water and asked her to perform her skills once more. "If you can do this, I will marry you", he added.

That night, Al Brutto came to the room again. "What do you have to give me this time?"

"I have nothing left to give you", the girl wept.

"Then you must promise to give me the bar once you are the owner's wife", demanded the man. And that she promised.

When the owner came back and saw the beer, he had no choice but to believe she really could brew it out of water.

They married a few weeks later. But, Al Brutto came to her and asked her for his due. Except, now, she didn't want to betray her husband. She then offered him everything in her possession if he agreed to leave them the bar. "No, you promised me this bar, and this bar I will have", he said.

As she started to weep like never before, the man told her : "I will give you three days. If after three days you cannot tell my real name, I will have the bar. If then you can't give it to me, I will have you and your husband taken care of by my men".

The first day, she tried to first names that came to her mind – Arnold, Lucky, Nelson. But the man's name wasn't among them.

The second day, she asked the barmaids what could be the man's name, but all only knew him under Al Brutto. Then, she tried the strangest names she could think of : Roast-ribs, or Sheepshanks, or Spindleshanks?

"That's not my name", he answered, sure of his victory.

But the girl followed him that night, and on the way, she heard him talk to himself. "There is no way this stupid little girl can guess the name my mother gave me is Rumplestiltskin", he mumbled. And the girl heard it all.

"Now is your last chance, what's my name?", he asked the following day.

"Is it Bob?"

"No."

"Is it Bruno?"

"No."

"Maybe it is Rumplestiltskin?" she asked him.

"Who told you that?" screamed the man. "Not even my men know my real name!" And he was so scared that his name might now be known by any other gang that he shot himself right on the spot.

The woman went straight to her husband and was happy. A few months later, the time of prohibition ended and the bar made a fortune. She stayed with her husband and they grew old together.


End file.
